Overview
- The Cumberland County jury that convicted Thomas O’Donnell on Friday recommended life in prison on Monday after hearing from both families.
- If the judge adopts a life term, O’Donnell would be eligible for parole after 20 years, and he will receive about 3.5 years of credit for time served.
- Prosecutors tied O’Donnell to Julie Harding and to the Kentucky scene through cellphone location data, a prepaid lure phone, DNA, and ammunition that matched the murder.
- Investigators say Harding, a California Highway Patrol captain who died by suicide in 2022, plotted with O’Donnell to kill her estranged husband during a contentious split.
- In Kentucky, jurors advise a punishment in a separate phase, but Judge David Williams will issue the binding sentence at a later hearing.